To Max about A Message from a Master

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Max Dashu wrote:

 

>Respect of the soul is praiseworthy.

>Respect of the body is despicable.

 

(from Swami Sivananda)

 

>> Oh, the poor, despised body. It is one thing to elevate the body to a

>> cult, to "feed the beast" by indulging appetites without any

>> discrimination, or to be proud of what an accomplished yogi, or

>> whatever, you are -- but to love this little bit of earth in

>> compassion for its transience is a way of seeing Devi in everything...

 

 

 

 

Dear Max ~ I couldn't agree with you more. I had a jolt of uncomfortability

when I read that as I grew up hating this body, partly because of early

molestation. In my early 20's I came dangerously close to developing anorexia.

After giving birth to my daughter (and there is nothing quite so vivid as

pregnancy to make a woman feel fat), I got down to 102 pounds. People were

telling

me I looked sick, but I didn't agree, I thought I looked like a model, but

still I wasn't satisfied. The day I got on the scale, when it read 102, I got

so excited. I thought, with great eagerness, oh, now I will get below 100

pounds. Then something in my head woke up (thank God/dess) and said, "and then

what ... 99 pounds? 98 pounds?, and then were do you go from there." Because of

this inner voice I realized this path to be thinner and thinner would

ultimately, if I kept going, end in my demise. So I stopped. I still dieted, but

I

began to eat more normally and got back to a more normal weight.

 

These bodies are our temples here on earth; they are the hands and feet of

God/dess, and if one agrees with some writers on spiritual matters, these

bodies are hardwired to have spiritual experiences that will make us yearn to

more

attune with this aspect of the body to become more spiritual and more in

tune with Spirit as It exists in All.

 

I am now painfully aware (quite literally) of this body that I have taken so

much for granted, because of my illnesses. Though I have lost quite a bit of

weight due to factors I mentioned in an earlier post, my tummy is always

bloated, always, sometimes only a little, sometimes terribly, so that just the

pressure is painful. Then I feel pregnant again. LOL But I won't go down that

road again.

 

Even though it is difficult for me to eat sometimes, I try to keep the

calories going by drinking gator aid. Sometimes it is pathetic how little I can

eat ... a few bites and I am even more uncomfortable; I don't "feel" hungry

because I already "feel" full.

But even though it is a challenge to not be mad at my body due to the

illnesses which are attacking it, I try to remember this is my temple, my

earthly

home, and my way, through spiritual practices, to peace and oneness. Jai Ma ~

Linda